Spirit has been keeping up with recent discussions regarding the Denver Metro/North Front Range (DM/NFR) ozone nonattainment area. As you may know, the DM/NFR ozone nonattainment area is currently classified as “serious” under the 2008 ozone standard and “marginal” under the 2015 ozone standard. This year (2021) is an attainment year for both of these standards.
One of the confusing aspects of ozone nonattainment is that there are actually two ozone standards in effect at the same time: The 2008 ozone standard and the 2015 ozone standard.
Let’s look at where the nonattainment areas currently stand:
- 2008 standard (75 ppb): The DM/NFR area is currently classified as serious nonattainment under the 2008 ozone standard. Based on monitoring data, it is anticipated that this area will be “bumped-up” from serious to severe in early 2022.
- 2015 standard (70 ppb): The DM/NFR area is currently classified as marginal nonattainment under the 2015 ozone standard. Based on monitoring data, it is anticipated that this area will be “bumped-up” from marginal to moderate in early 2022.
Why is this important? Well, let’s look at the different impacts that a bump-up would have, focusing on the 2008 ozone standard because it has a larger and potentially more immediate impact on a company’s authorization options and permitting strategy:
- The definition of a major source will decrease from 50 tons/year (of either VOC and/or NOx) to 25 tons/year.
- Sources (sites) located in the nonattainment area that have PTEs (or authorized emission rates) between 25 tons/year and 50 tons/year will become major sources once a classification bump-up rule becomes effective.
After the effective date of a bump-up rule, all of the nonattainment new source review (NNSR) applicability analysis requirements for the “new” ozone major sources come into play.
- If a new source is at or above the nonattainment major source threshold of 25 tons/year of NOx or VOC, NNSR will apply;
- If a project’s net increase is greater than, or equal to, the nonattainment major modification threshold of 25 tons/year of either NOx and/or VOC, NNSR will apply; and,
- If NNSR is triggered, LAER and offsets (at a 1.3:1 ratio) will be applicable to the project.
This can be very important if an existing site is located in the DM/NFR 2008 ozone standard nonattainment area and has authorized emission rates between 25 and 50 tons/year (of either VOC and/or NOx).
Does this sound confusing? Are you concerned about future permitting requirements in your area? Do you have the data necessary to support a NNSR analysis? If you are unsure of the answers to any of these questions, feel free to contact the subject matter experts at Spirit Environmental and we’ll be happy to help you work through all these complex requirements.
